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Uptake, Acuumulation, And Toixicity Of Silver Nanoparticles To Juvenile Bivalve Mollusc’S Hard Clam Mercenaria Mercenaria, Hanaa Radhi Jolan Al Hameed

Theses and Dissertations

Nanoscience and nanotechnology have gained attention in the last 20 - 30 years. Manufactured nanoparticles (NPs), which are defined as having at least one dimension between 1 and 100 nm, are the main products of nanotechnology. Nanoscale materials often have novel properties due to their size and this has made them so attractive for a range of processes and sectors. These attractive properties have enhanced their use in a wide range of consumer products and applications including electronic, biomedical, and pharmaceutical. The overall objective of this dissertation was: 1) to investigate the transformation of well-characterized AgNPs, at environmentally relevant concentrations …

Regulation Of Inflammatory Processes By Tryptamine, Cannabidiol And 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-P-Dioxin, Nicholas Dopkins

Theses and Dissertations

Host immunity is a complicated system of pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory processes that respond to exogenous and endogenous threats to regulate host physiology, inhibit carcinogenesis, and protect from infections. Sustained deviance from normal immunological function occurs due to a variety of factors both endogenous and exogenous, with some factors that can dysregulate host immunity including: genetics, microbiota composition, toxin exposure, age, gender, and smoking. The etiology of inflammatory disorders is both convoluted and complex due to the sheer number of facets regulating host immunity. To better contribute to understanding how immunological dysregulation occurs we focused on how three anti-inflammatory compounds (tryptamine, …

Dysbiosis-Related Medications And The Association With Cognitive Decline, Cognitive Impairment, And Dementia, Nicholas Victor Resciniti

Theses and Dissertations

The main objectives of this dissertation were to quantitatively assess whether there is an association between medications (e.g., antibiotics, PPIs, antipsychotics) and cognitive performance over time, conduct a causal mediation analysis to evaluate the role of inflammation (C-reactive protein) in the association between medications and subsequent cognitive decline, and examine if dysbiosis-related medications (DRM) are associated with a greater risk of dementia for participants that were cognitively normal and had MCI at baseline.

The Health and Retirement Study (HRS) was used to conduct a secondary data analysis that used longitudinal data from 2004 to 2016. The HRS is an ongoing, …

An Analysis Of Mental State Verbs In Children With Hearing Loss, Morgan Vachio

Theses and Dissertations

Mental state verbs (MSV) require unique cognitive and linguistic knowledge compared to lower level function words (Shatz et al., 1983). These cognitive and linguistic demands are thought to be difficult for children with hearing loss (CHL) due to deficits in word learning (Werfel, 2017; Lund, 2016), limited depth of vocabulary knowledge (Walker et al., 2018) and deficits in complex syntax (Werfel et al., 2021). The present study recruited 73 preschool children (23 CHLCI, 22 CHL-HA and 28 CNH) to participate. Our analysis examined the frequency, lexical diversity and use of MSV within required complex syntax structures.

Building A New (Deal) Identity The Evolution Of Italian-American Political Culture And Ideology, 1910–1940, Ryan J. Antonucci

Theses and Dissertations

Italian Americans were a key constituency of the white-ethnic voting bloc that formed one of the main pillars of the New Deal coalition. However, few historians have looked at motives for the group’s allegiance beyond economic necessity and machine politics. This approach has falsely colored enthusiasm for the New Deal as a reflexive reaction to the Great Depression. “Building a New (Deal) Identity” argues that Italian Americans living in western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio, from Pittsburgh through Cleveland, voted heavily for the New Deal during the 1930s because of their unique political reshaping during the preceding two decades. In this …

Characterizing Anxiety And Physiological Correlates In Preschool Children With Neurodevelopmental Disabilities, Jordan Ezell

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is comprised of two original research manuscripts broadly examining anxiety and potential correlates in young children with neurodevelopmental disabilities. The first manuscript assessed cardiac regulation during an auditory startle paradigm in young children (3-6 years old) with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), fragile x syndrome (FXS), and neurotypical peers. The second manuscript utilized a new measure developed to capture anxiety in individuals with ASD in order to assess the rate of typical and atypical anxiety and potential risk factors (ASD severity, sex, cognitive ability) for anxiety in preschool children with ASD contrasted to neurotypical preschool children. Collectively, these two …

John Laurens: An Artist Rediscovered In The Ethelind Pope Brown Collection, Nicole Alexandra Gerth

Theses and Dissertations

The Ethelind Pope Brown collection at the Irvin Department of Rare Books & Special Collections at the University of South Carolina contains thirty-two gouache paintings of south-eastern North American flora and fauna from the eighteenth century. Colonel John Laurens, a native South Carolinian from the eighteenth century, is the decided artist for the collection after appraisers and scholars confirmed that the works were painted by a local amateur artist. Historians respect Laurens for his abolitionist ideologies and his status as an officer under George Washington’s service, but his accomplishment as an amateur naturalist artist is not as well documented. From …

The Potential Of Indian River Lagoon Muck To Act As A Reservoir For Emerging Organic Contaminants, Gregory David Belson

Theses and Dissertations

Pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and personal care products are frequently found in sediments and waterways around the world. These chemicals, collectively known as Emerging Organic Contaminants (EOCs) can harm the environments in which they are deposited by killing or stressing the local flora and fauna. These EOCs also can be released back into the water column when these substrates are disturbed. Such sediments and their associated EOCs are particularly problematic in urbanized areas. However, the particular composition of urbanization-associated sediments as well as their potential to harbor EOCs needs to be evaluated in the context of their environment, to ensure proper mitigation …

Transcriptomic And Proteomic Identification Of Signaling Molecules Involved In Egg Activation In The Sea Star, Patiria Miniata, Lauren Shea Bates

Theses and Dissertations

During egg activation in all species, the critical mechanism to restart the zygote metabolism and prevent polyspermy is an intracellular Ca2+ increase. The signaling molecules, including the receptors on the sperm and egg, leading to the Ca2+ rise are not fully known. In the sea star, Patiria miniata, SFK1, SFK3, and PLCγ are known signaling molecules who are responsible for causing the internal Ca2+ rise from the endoplasmic reticulum. These three proteins share common features including signaling through SH2 domains and their activity is controlled by tyrosine phosphorylation. Using transcriptomics and phospho-proteomics to search for more molecules with these same …

Spatial Ecology And Stable Isotope Composition Of Cetaceans In The Bohol Sea, Edna Sabater

Theses and Dissertations

Studies on Philippine cetaceans (i.e., whales and dolphins) began in the early 1980s, and have resulted in the location and identification of species in Philippine waters. However, the population estimates of most of the cetacean species are uncertain, which is important in evaluating whether the populations are stable, decreasing, or increasing in relation to potential threats and conservation measures. I conducted line-transect surveys between 2010 and 2019 in the Bohol Sea, Philippines. A total of 2009.5 km survey efforts were made, which covered an area of 8041 km2 throughout the 5-year survey period. Distance sampling methods estimated the total abundance …

Design And Analysis Of A Pipe And Pump System Constructed To Connect Port Canaveral To The Banana River, Nicole Ann Mcclain

Theses and Dissertations

The Indian River Lagoon (IRL) has hosted an extensive array of plants and animals throughout its lifetime, having one of the greatest species’ diversity of all North American estuaries. In addition to the variety of marine wildlife that is supported by the IRL, the system is also a recreational and economic resource for the counties bordering it. The biological integrity of the IRL, however, has shown evidence of decline in the last few decades, due to impaired water quality caused by pollution and disruptions to natural circulation patterns. If far-reaching changes are made to repair the water quality of the …

Divergent Regulatory Roles Of Nurd Chromatin Remodeling Complex Subunits Gatad2 And Chd4 In Caenorhabditis Elegans, Nicole Lynn Golden

Theses and Dissertations

During stress, a protective cellular network known as the heat shock response (HSR) is induced to maintain protein-folding homeostasis, or proteostasis. While the HSR is essential for stress resistance, its misregulation is associated with neurodegenerative disease and cancer. Using the nematode model organism Caenorhabditis elegans, we have identified the chromatin remodeling complex NuRD (nucleosome remodeling and deacetylase) as a novel regulator of the HSR. Here, we begin with a brief introduction of the HSR and chromatin remodeling complexes in C. elegans, prior to presenting our findings in a series of two chapters. In chapter one, we outline a set of …

Distinct Spatiotemporal Regulation Of The Cytoprotective Heat Shock Response In Caenorhabditis Elegans, Rosemary Nadine Plagens

Theses and Dissertations

Every organism studied to-date utilizes the heat shock response (HSR) to maintain protein-folding homeostasis (proteostasis) during temperature or other protein-folding stress. The HSR has been well characterized using acute heat stress (HS) in single-celled models, but less is known about how distinct cell types and tissues respond to HS. Furthermore, how metazoans respond to prolonged HS at the molecular level remains relatively unexplored. The model organism C. elegans, with its genetic tractability and distinct tissues and behaviors, has been used extensively in the field to characterize the acute HSR, but with considerable variability across labs regarding HS temperature and duration. …

The Effects Of Ultraviolet Radiation On Aircraft Crewmember Health, Erin Johnston

Theses and Dissertations

Ultraviolet (UV) radiation and its effects on crewmember health will be evaluated by examining the variables that impact the intensity of UV radiation and the health concerns associated with this exposure. The purpose of this study was to (a) identify how Ultraviolet A (UVA) exposure is different in an aircraft cockpit when compared to the exposure at sea-level and (b) expose the adverse health impacts associated with an increased exposure of UVA radiation. This was accomplished through an examination of UV radiation and the variables that impact its effectiveness. After this analysis, the adverse health impacts experienced from UV radiation …

Evaluating Matrix Training To Teach Children With Autism To Tact Private Events, Abbi Dell Lee

Theses and Dissertations

The research on teaching tacts has primarily focus on visual stimuli, with relatively little attention to teaching tacts of nonvisual stimuli. The present study extended the literature to different types of tactile stimulation by teaching 2-component tacts of body-part sensation combinations in the presence of tactile stimulation. Multiple objects were used to produce the sensations to encourage generalization. Two additional exemplars for each sensation were probed for generalization to novel objects. The experimenters used matrix training, in which target responses were arranged in such a way as to facilitate recombinative generalization to untrained combinations. We arranged 6 body part targets …

Teaching Individuals To Tact The Intensity Of Sensations, Sandhya Rajagopal

Theses and Dissertations

Healthcare professionals frequently ask individuals to use numerical rating scales to rate their pain intensity; therefore, reporting the intensity of private sensations is an important skill. Yet individuals with autism often have difficulty reporting sensations. Using a multiple baseline design across stimulus sets in the pilot experiment and Experiment 1, a multiple probe design across participants in Experiment 2, and a multiple probe design across stimulus sets in Experiment 3, the present study investigated a method of teaching typically developing adults and children and one child with autism to report the intensity of tactile sensations rough, tight, heavy, and temperature. …

The Effects Of Reinforcer Absence And Availability Of Alternative Activity On Delay Of Gratification In Children With Autism, Hailey Rose Prechtel

Theses and Dissertations

An increase in delay tolerance can help individuals obtain more preferred items, activities, and interactions. There are also many situations in a young child's daily life in which they cannot have immediate access to items, activities, or attention that they might be seeking. This can often lead to problem behavior and a longer time to wait for the desired item. Strategies that increase self-controlled responding may help individuals make choices and respond appropriately to receive a better outcome. This study examined the effects of self-control techniques such as removing an item, and interaction with an alternative activity on a child’s …

Endothelial Response In 2d And 3d To Doses Of Photosensitive Carbon Monoxide Releasing Molecules With Improved Activation, Nicholas Duc Huynh

Theses and Dissertations

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death worldwide in large part due to atherosclerotic obstruction of blood vessels. Limitations with current treatment approaches include restenosis in stenting and viable donor-tissue for bypass grafts, and this has motivated research combining the fields of drug delivery and tissue engineering for alternative approaches. The use of carbon monoxide as a potential therapeutic agent in the treatment of CVD has shown potential impacts on vasodilation and anti-inflammation. The goal of this study was to develop a system to elucidate the response of endothelial cells post-exposure to different concentrations of carbon monoxide releasing …

Cold Mother, Cold Case: Memoirs Of An Abandoned Daughter, Tasha Marie Robinson

Theses and Dissertations

“Cold Mother, Cold Case: Memoirs of an Abandoned Daughter,” is a collection of stories that many young girls and women can relate to. These are stories of solitude, abandonment, abuse, resentment, determination, and survival. These emotions stemmed from the relationship with the one person that is supposed to love unconditionally, our mothers. The main purpose for the author writing the memoir was to use it as a way to heal from and to reflect on her childhood. The author’s hope is that the story will inspire young girls and women to strive for greatness from life, even when dealt an …

Cultivating Internal Rhetoric: Lessons On Self-Directed Rhetoric From Protestant Meditation Manuals And Modern Metacognitive Theory, Jared Vanhille

Theses and Dissertations

Internal rhetoric describes how individuals engage in self-persuasion. Jean Nienkamp developed a theory of internal rhetoric by drawing on both the rhetorical tradition and the field of psychology. I build on Nienkamp's work by arguing that the Christian meditative practice outlined by Joseph Hall in The Arte of Divine Meditation (1607) and Edmund Calamy in The Art of Divine Meditation (1634) provides a theoretical and practical framework for performing a particular kind of internal rhetoric in which people become the rhetorical critic by reading their own beliefs and knowledge and then become the rhetor by composing self-directed arguments. This process …

< Justice > And < Open Debate >: An Ideographic Analysis Of < Freedom Of Speech >, Emily Ann Spackman

Theses and Dissertations

< Freedom of speech > is a foundational ideograph in the American and more broadly, Western, tradition. Yet this term is not static in its meanings or commitments to social action. The current debate around cancel culture is the site of renegotiation of < freedom of speech > in relation to other terms such as < open debate >, < justice >, < marginalized >, < tolerance >, < democracy >, and < power >. This study is an ideographic analysis of two artifacts that represent two sides of the < freedom of speech > discussion: “A Letter on Justice and Open Debate” and “A More Specific Letter on Justice and Open Debate.” Following McGee’s theory and method, this research examines the diachronic definition of < freedom of speech > through the U. …

Investigating Intersubjectivity Between Preschool Teachers And Children During Instruction: A Case Study, Andrianna Eleni Smyrniotis

Theses and Dissertations

Early childhood teachers attend professional development sessions, take college-level courses, or read articles, and will, at some point, be exposed to some concepts found in Vygotsky’s (1986) cultural-historical theory of cognitive development as they are deeply embedded in education standards, professional standards, texts, and journals throughout the country. And yet, some concepts, including scaffolding (Wood et al., 1976), are the result of misinterpretations and the assignment of a label over the years (Gonzales Rey (2008). A largely overlooked concept accurately relating to Vygotsky’s work is intersubjectivity (Trevarthen, 2008), defined as mutual understanding, among teachers and children, for concept development. Intersubjectivity …

Localized Anthropogenic And Geogenic Groundwater Contamination In The Structurally Complex Carbonate-Hosted East Tintic Mining District, Eureka, Ut, Usa, Cameron Patrick Cordner

Theses and Dissertations

Legacy mining areas throughout the world contain widespread contaminated surface and groundwater from both anthropogenic and geogenic sources. Abandoned mine waste can contribute harmful solutes to groundwater and surface water, as metals mobilize through oxidation of sulfide minerals. Geogenic contaminant sources, such as geothermal water and mineralization, may also contribute to groundwater pollution in mining areas. To investigate the relationship between various groundwater contamination sources in legacy mining areas we sampled ~30 cold springs in the East Tintic Mountains of Utah and 8 regional hot springs as a proxy for geothermal water during fall 2019 and spring/summer 2020. Water chemistry …

Porous Scaffold And Soft Hydrogel Composite For Biomedical Applications, Matthew Dicerbo

Theses and Dissertations

Biophysical signals including stiffness and dimensionality influence a myriad of stem cell behaviors including morphology, mechanosensing, and differentiation. 2D stiff environments cause increased cellular spreading and induce osteogenic differentiation whereas 3D soft environments favor rounder cell morphologies attributed to a chondrogenic phenotype. The goal of this study is to create a composite that integrates these divergent biophysical signals within one system. This composite consists of a stiff and porous polycaprolactone (PCL) backbone that provides mechanical stiffness and a 2D environment. The PCL backbone is then perfused with mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and a soft methacrylated gelatin (GelMe) hydrogel to provide …

Behavioral Analysis Of Conditions And Treatments Affecting Movement And Nociception, Indu Mithra Madhuranthakam

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis work includes three projects. First part deals with the investigation of novel D2 receptor ligands in Prepulse inhibition. The goal of this study is to establish a relationship between dopamine receptor antagonists and agonists and prepulse inhibition which can then serve as a working model for an in-vivo efficacy of novel dopamine D2 drugs. The second part of the thesis work deals with Niemann pick disease type C. Niemann pick disease type C is a progressive genetic disorder that is characterized by the lysosomal accumulation of lipids which causes neurodegeneration, dementia, ataxia, and death. NPC1_nmf164 mutant mice …

Characterizing Self-Inserting Carbon-Fiber Microelectrode Arrays For Fast-Scan Cyclic Voltammetry, Brad M. Smith

Theses and Dissertations

The ability to monitor brain neurotransmitters with high fidelity is critical for establishing the neural underpinnings of behavior and pathology. Fast-scan cyclic voltammetry (FSCV) is an electroanalytical technique that relies on sweeping electrical potentials to drive rapid oxidation and reduction of electroactive neurochemicals. FSCV applications are typically limited by their ability to measure from one to two recording sites using a well-established microsensor, the carbon-fiber microelectrode (CFM). When coupled to FSCV, the CFM provides exquisite spatial, temporal, and chemical resolution in vivo. Recent advances have led to the development of self-inserting (i.e., without the requirement for a shuttle) carbon-fiber microelectrode …

Now Showing: Cinematic Trends In Little Rock Movies, 1933-1963, Emily Summers Yarberry

Theses and Dissertations

This research explores the connection between film and culture by examining how major historical events impacted what types of movies were made. While previous cinema research uses a micro approach to analyze a few key films and draw conclusions about genre trends, this project takes a macro approach to examine thousands of movies in order to assess wider trends in consumer behavior. By creating a database of movie information using records from the Arkansas Amusement Corporation in Little Rock, I tracked trends in the popularity of war, film noir, horror, and family movies from 1933 to 1963. All four genres …

Development And Optimization Of Chitosan/ Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxane Nanocomposite Films For Oil Removal Using Box-Behnken Design, Haidy Mikhael

Theses and Dissertations

The solvent casting method was used to prepare nanocomposite membranes made of Chitosan matrix (CS) and Poly(ethylene glycol) Polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (PEG-POSS). The effects of varying PEG-POSS percentage (0-10%) and preparation conditions (homogenization speed (2000-20,000 rpm) and time (5-25 mins)) were studied. The analysis included the change in surface topography and morphology, chemical properties, thermal degradation, tensile strength, porosity, and adsorption capacity of the membranes. The experimental work was designed using Design-Expert software. The responses monitoring and analysis were done using Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), Atomic force microscopy (AFM), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The morphological appearance …

Navigating Glucosinolate Biosynthesis And High Oleic Acid Seed Oil Production In Pennycress ( Thlaspi Arvense L. ) Utilizing Crispr / Cas9 Genome Editing, Brice Jarvis

Theses and Dissertations

Pennycress (Thlaspi arvense L.) is being domesticated as an oilseed cash cover crop to be grown in the offseason throughout temperate regions of the world. With its diploid genome and ease of molecular mutagenesis, pennycress seed oil composition can be rapidly tailored for a plethora of food, feed, oleochemical and fuel uses. The first part of my research has utilized Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR)/Cas9 technology to produce knockout mutations throughout the lipid biosynthetic pathway, with an emphasis to increase oleic acid (C18:1) content specifically within the seed. Oleic acid (18:1) is valued for its oxidative stability that …

Parent Perceptions Of Literacy Development For Females Later Diagnosed With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Christine Marie Yaccarino

Theses and Dissertations

Little is known about the early literacy development of girls later diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism traits. In this study, parents of 21 girls later diagnosed with ASD or as having significant ASD traits were each interviewed about their daughter's early literacy development. In general, findings indicated that parents reported their daughters' early success with word level reading. Initially, parents conflated that one area of reading success to also indicate an overall accomplishment in broad reading skills. Findings also indicated that parents simultaneously acknowledged successful word level reading, yet over time noted specific challenges in early literacy …